Chapter 1

Race Through Space written by Theanne Griffith illustrated by Reggie Brown

太空竞赛，作者：Theanne Griffith，插画：Reggie Brown

1 Sluuuuuuuuuuuuuuurp! Pablo sucked an imaginary string of pasta through his lips. "No way!" said Violet with squinted eyes. She tucked a few stray kinks of hair behind her ears and crossed her arms. "That's impossible." "I promise! That's what happens if you get too close to a black hole," replied Pablo. "I read all

1 Sluuuuuuuuuuuuuuurp !巴勃罗用嘴唇吮吸着一串想象中的意大利面。 “不可能！”维奥莱特眯着眼睛说。 她把几缕散乱的头发塞到耳后，交叉着双臂。 “那是不可能的。”“我保证!如果你离黑洞太近，就会发生这种情况，”巴勃罗回答。 我读了全部

about it. You get stretched like a looooooooooong piece of spaghetti." "Well…I'm glad there aren't any black holes close to Earth," said Violet. "I can't become a scientist if I get turned into a noodle first." The two best friends giggled. They sat cross legged in the center of the Newburg Meadow with tall grass and scattered flowers fluttering in the wind around them. The field was dotted with Newburg Elementary students and their families. This month's field trip was outdoors, and everyone was waiting for the sun to go down. Tonight, they were going to watch one of the largest meteor showers ever recorded in Newburg history!

关于它。你会像一根长长的意大利面一样被拉伸。” “嗯……我很高兴地球附近没有黑洞。”维奥莱特说。 “如果我先变成面条，我就成不了科学家。” 两个最好的朋友咯咯地笑。 他们盘腿坐在纽堡草地的中央，高高的草和散落的花在他们周围随风飘扬。 操场上到处都是纽堡小学的学生和他们的家人。 这个月的实地考察是在户外进行的，每个人都在等着太阳下山。 今晚，他们要去看纽堡有史以来最大的流星雨之一！

"Did you know a meteor shower happens when lots of tiny bits of space rock come close to Earth and burn up?" asked Pablo in one long breath. "Sometimes people call them shooting stars. But they're not even stars!" Pablo could hardly contain his excitement.

“你知道流星雨发生的时候，是许多微小的太空岩石靠近地球并燃烧起来的时候吗？”巴勃罗长吸了一口气问道。 “有时人们称它们为流星。 但它们甚至不是星星！”巴勃罗几乎无法抑制他的兴奋。

"Yes, you told me yesterday. And the day before that." Violet laughed. Pablo and Violet had been best friends since Pablo moved from Puerto Rico to Newburg in first grade. They'd play soccer together in the park after school or share a delicious pickle on their walk home. But this week, Pablo had spent all his free time in the library reading about meteors and other space objects. Both Pablo and Violet loved learning about science. But space was Pablo's

“是的，你昨天告诉我的。 再往前一天。”紫笑了。 自从巴勃罗一年级从波多黎各搬到纽堡以来，巴勃罗和维奥莱特就一直是最好的朋友。 放学后，他们会在公园里一起踢足球，或者在回家的路上一起分享美味的泡菜。 但这周，巴勃罗把所有的空闲时间都花在了图书馆里阅读有关流星和其他太空物体的书籍上。 巴勃罗和维奥莱特都喜欢学习科学知识。 但太空是巴勃罗的

favorite. And he wanted to make sure he remembered everything for tonight's field trip. Pablo's mom called from across the meadow. "It's almost time!" She held her watch in the air and tapped it. "Only fifteen more minutes until sunset." Violet's dad was standing next to Pablo's mom. He gave Pablo and Violet two thumbs-up. Pablo tilted his head back and looked at the deep-purple-and-pink sky. One day he was going to watch a meteor shower from the window of his very own spaceship. That had been his dream ever since he could remember, even though some of his

的最爱。他想确保他记住了今晚实地考察的一切。 巴勃罗的妈妈从草地那边打来电话。 “时间差不多了！”她把手表举在空中轻敲。 “离日落只有十五分钟了。” 维奥莱特的爸爸站在巴勃罗妈妈旁边。 他对巴勃罗和维奥莱特竖了两个大拇指。 巴勃罗歪着头，望着深紫色和粉红色的天空。 有一天，他打算在自己的宇宙飞船上看流星雨。 从他记事起，这就是他的梦想，尽管他的一些梦想